Tagged: Jobless Rate

Washington jobless falls first time in three-plus years. Washington employers added 5,800 new jobs in April, lowering the state's unemployment rate for the first time in more than three years. Unemployment statewide fell to 9.2 percent from 9.5 percent reported in March.

The Employment Security Department's Jamie Swift says that Washington has posted a net gain of nearly 15,000 new jobs this year.

Jamie Swift: “Seeing the unemployment rate come down finally after three long years is welcome news. It's definitely a sign that our economy is turning around.”

Idaho's unemployment rate made its largest one month fall in more than a quarter century. The three-tenths of one percent decline in April puts the jobless rate at 9.1 [nine-point-one] percent. That's the lowest in the Northwest…and it's Idaho's second monthly decrease in a row. Bob Fick from the state Labor Department says employers aren't hiring in large numbers. But he says temporary agencies are getting busier.He says employment growth this spring almost looks normal.